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Beautiful People: May Edition

I am super excited to participate in my first linkup: Beautiful People! It's hosted by lovely Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In. They both has wonderful blogs, so definately check them out!

Beautiful People is a linkup where you are given ten questions each month to get to know your characters/book better.

Teen refugee Taylan fled from his civil war strewn country when royal soldiers slaughtered his village and family for supporting rebel soldiers. Now, all he desires is revenge against the magic-hoarding royals. Away from the war, Princess Mida has been considered a monster all her life with her golden touch, so she stays away from almost everyone. Mida seeks a cure to her curse by delving deep into the illegal magic market, while Taylan struggles to make any money working as a mercenary in the palace.

When the rebel soldiers find their way over the border into the refugee camp, looking for new recruits and money to fund their army, the answer to their problems might lie in the two teens; revenge and the touch of gold.

Taylan is on the bottom right

Onto the questions!

1) How often do they smile? Would they smile at a stranger?Taylan is not exactly the 'wake-up and smile at the world because, hey, they're alive!' type. Be easy on him, he lost his entire family, and is now a refugee in Mohetania, where it is ridiculously hard for him to find a good job. Anyway, he'll only smile around a certain someone. *wiggles eyebrows*2) What is the cruelest thing they’ve ever been told? And what was their reaction?Excuse me while I pull out a list. Hmmm. There was one time when he was called a, to put it politely: "butt-licking mongrel" when he was twelve. He was told this by a royal soldier when was taking part in the mandatory military service for three months. The royal soliders are not the kind of people you would invite over to a party, unless you intend on cleaning blood off the floor. Anyway, Taylan retaliated with a fist to their gut. That got him several scars in return.3) What is the kindest thing they’ve ever been told? And what was their reaction?Taylan's best friend, Koray, said to him once: "Tay, if another guy richer than the royals marched in and offered me his friendship, I wouldn't accept it. They don't get better than you. So pull yourself up, and play cards with me before I throw them at you." Taylan listened to Koray, clapped him on the back, and lost at the game. Needless to say, this made Koray happy.

4) What is one strong memory that has stuck with your character from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting?Probably on his fourteenth birthday when his village was invaded with royal soldiers because they suspected rebels were being allowed to stay. The royal soldiers started to slaughter everyone when they found men bearing the rebel wrist tattoo. Taylan's mother yelled at him to run as the soldiers pinned her down. And so did. He kept running, and then swum through the sewerage pit between Paralin and Mohetania that serves as a border.No explanations needed about why this is a lasting memory.5) What book (a real actual published book!) do you think your character would benefit from reading?Any YA book ever because (a) he needs to know that want for revenge is probably going to end up with a whole ton of innocent people dead and (b) give him hope that he can be with someone he loves despite all odds.

I want this so much for Taylan it's a little unhealthy

6) Have they ever been seriously injured? How severely? How did they react?When he was running from the royal soldiers, an arrow sliced through his ankle, and he dislocated his shoulder an hour later. So combined, they are probably the worst he's had. He can still walk, but there is a scar on his ankle, and occasionally his shoulder twinges. When it happened, he just kept running despite the blood and pain. When your life is at stake, there isn't much choice.7) Do they like and get along with their neighbours?This question amuses me, because in the refugee camp Taylan shares a 'bathroom' with six other homes. This usually ends with him pounding on the door needing to pee after his neighbour has been in there doing their hair with a broken shard of mirror for an hour. They're not best friends, but not enemies. The only enemy the refugees have are the royals and their soldiers.8) On a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being easy and 10 being difficult) how easy are they to get along with?Around a 6, because while Taylan is sweet at times and very polite (his mother drilled that into him), he also is very hot-tempered and can tend to be very unpredictable when his need for revenge is concerned.9) If they could travel anywhere in the world, where would they go?Taylan just wants to go back to the ruins of his village, so he can properly mourn his family in his own country.

10) Who was the last person they held hands with?Well. No one that recently, but I will mention that this certain someone, Feriha, held his hand when he was getting the arrow ripped out of his ankle. She held his hand so he wouldn't scream, but it certainly sparked something a few years ago. ;)

Have you participated in Beautiful People? Would you like to meet Taylan in real life? How often do your characters smile (if at all), and where would they travel? Let me know in the comments; I'd love to hear your thoughts!

This month is my eighth BPFW and I have learned a lot about my characters. The character I wrote about this month also would want to travel home. Thanks for sharing, I would love to read more about this story. :)

Wow, that's great you learned so much about your characters! I've answered some of the Beautiful People questions just for myself a while back, and they really help. It's always sad when someone is away from the home for so long, but hopefully our characters can go back someday! Thank you for reading and commenting! :D

You WIP sounds really good!!! :D I'm actually even more curious about Taylan now and Mida too (because the golden touch thing sounds wicked cool). Does she happen to be based on King Midas, because of her golden touch?

Thank you! Yes, you're right: Golden Revenge is partly a retelling of the legend of King Midas, but his daughter is cursed instead of the king. (I also really want to experience the gold touch but there are so many negatives to it that I'm kind of scared it!) I'm glad you're curious about it; Golden Revenge is super fun to write. Thank you so much for dropping by and commenting! :D

Yes, glad you caught onto my "subtle" naming. ;) I'm super happy you like the idea of Golden Revenge; it's been developing in my mind for a long time. I know, I'm so mean to my characters (but it being his birthday ends up being important, I promise). Go ahead and gather him up in the blanket. He might be a little awkward, but hey, if there's cookies involved he will probably accept what you say. :D Thanks for reading and commenting Topaz! :)

OMG THIS IS AMAZING AND I ADORED READING THIS. I feel so so so much pain for darling little Taylan. omg, the precious TORTURED CHILD. *builds pillow fort around him* Honestly his childhood sounds like the most traumatic thing of ever. YOU EVIL AUTHOR. ;)(Thanks for joining in!!)

Thank you! As for the name Koray, thank Turkey! They are all Turkish names (except from Mida). I think there is quite a queue of people who want to cuddle Taylan, but feel free to line up. :D So glad you enjoyed the post, and thank you for reading and commenting! :)

Thank you! Taylan is a super fun charrie to write (he also sketches his village before it was burnt and it hurts me every time I write about that). You're right, his backstory is quite intense. XD Thanks so much for commenting! :)